Crabby Pants

In my classroom at school when someone arrives with a scowl or responds in a less than polite manner, I might as them if they have their crabby pants on. What that has to do this this recipe is really a stretch, but there is crab meat in the recipe!

Anyway....

Here is a crab Rangoon recipe that was quite tasty. Better for you because it's baked, but still has that oh so good flavor I crave.

BAKED CRAB RANGOON

1 can 6oz white crab meat, drained

4 oz cream cheese (could use Neufchatel) soft

2 green onions, thinly sliced & include some of the green

1/4 cup light mayo or regular

12 won ton wrappers

Heat oven to 350*.

Mix first 4 ingredients.

Place 1 won ton wrapper in each of 12 mini muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray. The edges will stick up, that's OK. Fill with crab mixture.

Bake 18-20 minutes of until edges of cups are golden brown and filling is heated through.

I had a few minutes left when I though the edges were the right color, so I took them out and gave them 30 seconds in the microwave to firm up the middles. Be sure to cool them a few minutes before digging in.

If you prefer a crispier texture bake the wrappers for 5-7 minutes before filling them, then another 6-8 minutes or till filling is heated through.

Birthday Salutations

For the last couple of days I kept asking Mike what kind of cake he'd like for his birthday. He just had trouble making a decision. James and Sarah are here from Lincoln, so we've been doing fun stuff instead of the usual ho hum. Shopping, eating out, etc... Today i flipped through some saved recipes I put on the back burner, and found these cupcakes that I wanted to try. He agreed -thank goodness! Before we went to Panda Garden I mixed up the cupcake batter, baked them and left them to cool. After we arrived home I quickly mixed up the frosting.

THEY ARE GOOD!!! Heather reminded me that James could bring some home for them, so I have their batch tucked away in a container ready for the road. I'm so glad Mike couldn't make up his mind. :-)

PEANUT BUTTER CUPCAKES = yum

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup peanut butter morsels

2/3 cup marshmallow fluff

Preheat oven to 350*

Cream butter and peanut butter together in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and eggs and beat together until fluffy. Add vanilla and mix for another minute or so.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients mixing just until combined. Add the milk, and once mixed add remaining dry ingredients. Fold in peanut butter morsels and marshmallow fluff by hand.

My recipe said it would make 12 cupcakes, but I got 15 out of the batter.

Pour into cupcake tins with liners and fill 2/3 full. I use an ice cream scoop so they bake evenly. Bake for 18 (ish) minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

MARSHMALLOW BUTTER CREAM FROSTING

1 stick butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup marshmallow fluff

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until creamy. Add in fluff and beat for 2-3 minutes. Add in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add in powdered sugar slowly, then beat on medium-high speed 2-3 minutes. If it seems runny add more pwd. sugar, if it's thick, add a bit of milk or cream 1 tbsp at a time. I needed to add liquid, but I think it would depend on the humidity level in your home.

After I frosted the cupcakes I warmed up some leftover genache, this step is optional.

The recipe said that the frosting will get hard, so make them the same day you are going to serve them. Okie dokie!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. MULLEN!!!!